Dallas
by 80sUnLoveChild
Summary: He woke up in that beer warehouse completed disorientated and with a really burning urge to kill Fez. But he'd save that for later first he had to find Jackie.


**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!**

_ZENNIE / PUDDIN' POPS / DOLLS_

_This isn't my bed_ was his first thought the next dozen or so were a variation of the word 'ow'. The smell of stale beer and smoke filled his nostrils and stung his eyes, he could make out the blurry figures of Kelso and Fez spooning on the floor of the warehouse, he'd have to file that for future use, Charlie was hugging a keg and Forman was nowhere to be seen. For a minute he felt uneasy, he'd had the weirdest dream. Charlie was dead, Kelso was in Chicago and Fez… his fist curled instinctively, Fez was dating Jackie! The urge to punch him was immense; he couldn't relax his fingers, it was like they were permanently curled.

The dream had been so real, Forman had gone to Africa and broken up with Donna who started dating this freak obsessed with his hair that worked for him at Grooves, that was such bull he would never hire a dude named Randy, his parents may as well have just called him horny as all hell. He didn't even have time to worry about the apparent toxicity of the beers he had consumed all night; he had to find Jackie. There was no way in hell he was going to marry a stripper and end up like Bud.

He in a rare moment of clarity ran to the Pinciotti house, there was no way he was risking his El Camino, besides Jackie and Red would kill him if he drove drunk and smashed up his car. The sun was beginning to rise over the water tower and he saw the not faded enough for his liking tag that proclaimed Kelso loved Jackie he made a mental note to clean that off or change it, something more like Kelso loves Crabs. Using the key Jackie had given him he let himself into the house, Donna and Forman who for some reason wasn't wearing pants were snuggled together on the couch, should have known Forman would find his drunken way to Donna. He still needed to frog him hard over the way he kept feeding him beer every time he decided to find Jackie. Creeping up the stairs expertly dodging the creaks he stealthily made his way to Donna's room, it wasn't hard consider he'd been there hundreds of times before and there was a trail of balled up tissues leading right to it.

"Jackie?"

He slipped into the room expecting to see the brunette curled up in her old cot that Donna had never gotten around to packing away. Given his dream he was only half surprised to find the cot stacked neatly against the wall and any trace of Jackie completely gone from the room. Well there was no way she was in Chicago right now, her mum was boozing her way through Cabo and the Lincoln was still in the shop. And according to his alcohol and drug addled mind her only other viable option; Kelso was back at the warehouse doing his very best impersonation of the coma patient he is destined to one day be.

"What are you doing here?" Donna asked sleepily, he hadn't been as careful coming back down the stairs. Fingering the ring in his pocket he debated telling her but she never had been able to keep her mouth shut.

"Just looking for Jackie." He answered before moving his gaze to Forman, scowling at his dimwitted friend. "Would have been here earlier if your lap dog hadn't kept feeding me beers every time I tried to leave."

"Yeah I'm sure Eric just poured them down your throat." Donna scoffed. "If you wanted to leave you would have."

"Bite me Donna." He snapped back stalking through to the kitchen, maybe she was in his room waiting to lecture him on keeping her waiting. Eric's Lego command centre was broken in front of the door and the light in his room wasn't on, all bad signs. He felt that deep sense of foreboding, he could practically hear Forman intoning about there being a disturbance in the force, hey yet another reason to kick his ass in the morning. His room was empty, her little touches were still around the room, the super soft pillow with the Led Zeppelin cover she had somehow found, the lavender candle and her photos, but there was something new. A note, an innocent envelope with his name scrawled across the front in her loopy handwriting. He didn't bother to read it, already knew what it would say, his dream self had memorized every line of the note dream Jackie had written him and he was already far too freaked out to see if they matched.

Well he could do two things, fall back onto his bed and let her run away go zen and pretend he never really cared. Or he could actually do the one thing he'd never done, and that Jackie had always wished he would, fight for her. He was going to have to out pussy Forman and thankfully he actually had a plan on how to do that.

His chest hurt, and not in that Forman pining after Donna way but in that it's itching and burning like hell way. He just had to keep repeating to himself that it was all worth it. Why he had such trouble showing he actually cared about Jackie was no mystery, it was pretty textbook psychology as Donna so happily pointed out. Fear of abandonment, blah, blah, blah, fear of intimacy, blah, blah, blah, fear of rejection, blah, blah, blah. It all boiled down to pretty much one thing, if no one knew he cared than no one would feel sorry for him when it all went to hell. Pity was the one thing he couldn't stand in his life, he had just never figured on falling for a girl that drove him so insane. Red had told him long ago that it was love if she drove you insane but you still wanted to be with her, and he trusted Red, he never bullshitted you. Scratching at his chest he knew he had either just made the dumbest decision of his life or the greatest.

_ZENNIES / PUDDIN' POPS / DOLLS_

She didn't know why she left that note, too chicken to face his rejection again she supposed. God she wished she was already in Chicago instead of waiting for the stupid car to get fixed, that garage was taking forever and she knew for a fact you could fix a transmission in less than a day, but apparently these people were so dumb they needed three weeks.

Her mum had started jetting off again about a month after she moved back, at least this time she remembered to leave money so she could pay the bills. Of course that had only lasted a little while too, so now here she was in her freezing cold house wearing her warmest fuzziest pyjamas and cocooned in every blanket she could find because her electricity and gas had been shut off weeks before. She'd snuck showers at Donna's and the Forman's and no one had noticed, not that she expected them to she only let them know what she wanted them to.

Steven hadn't known either, after what had happened last time she didn't want to end up shipped back to Donnas. Besides given the holding pattern that they're relationship had been in she wasn't even sure he would care. It was infuriating being in a relationship with someone who found it an almost physical hardship to express their feelings, and what was even more infuriating was when he was actually surprised when she wanted to know them since apparently as a mind reader she should just know… jackass.

She was shivering when the front door to her house swung open and then shut. She knew she should have locked that thing, luckily she kept her father's big round golf club by her bed, she held it like a baseball bat ready to swing at whoever came into her room.

"Jackie?"

Her swing missed his head by millimetres his reflex telling him to duck saving him from a pounding headache.

"Are you trying to kill me?" He snarled reaching for the light. "Why is your power out? It's freezing in here."

The golf club fell to the floor in a clatter and Jackie sunk back into her bed pulling the blankets around her, it **was** freezing.

"What the hell are you doing here Steven?" She spat back trying to hide her face in the covers so he didn't see the tear streaks. "Shouldn't you be passed out in some warehouse?"

He winced at her words, he had been passed out in that warehouse for a while, he kicked off his boots and slipped under the covers ignoring Jackie's squeaks of protest.

"Shut your pie hole princess, it's too cold." Remarkably she did shut up. "Your mum left again didn't she?"

Jackie nodded her body crushed into his chest, his hand stroking her hair.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me? I would have-"

"What? Laughed at me? Made Donna ask me to move back in?" She scoffed. "No thanks, I'd rather be a little cold than be the basement charity case."

"Hey Fez is the basement charity case, when we met him he was being hung up by the jocks in supply closets." Hyde practically scolded her.

"Some guys did that to him last week at the salon."

"Exactly he's still the charity case." Hyde all but yelled. That wasn't the right tact to take, breathing deeply he pulled Jackie closer to him tucking his chin on her shoulder. "You should've told me, you know I hate the thought of you all alone here, you're too little."

"I've been just fine." She retorted. "I don't need anyone taking caring of me."

"It's not about needing it, it's about people wanting to take care of you. Do you know how long it took me to accept that when the Forman's asked me to move in with them?" Hyde asked her.

"Well why could you accept it of them but not of me?" She cried hating that the tears had spilled out. "I wanted to be everything for you and you pushed me away!"

"Because it's you! The friggin princess of Point Place settles down with the town reject? Sorry I must have skipped that fairy tale. We were never meant to work Jackie and we did and that scares the shit out of me."

"You don't think it scares me? I'm terrified! I'm in love with an idiot, your best friend still doesn't believe we're actually in a relationship and you don't trust me!" Jackie yelled back. "Do you have any idea what it is like waking up everyday wondering if today was the day you were finally going to yell 'burn!' and leave me, saying it was all a joke? I love you and you know that but I don't know if you love me, most of the time I don't even think you like me."

"Jackie you're the only good thing that has ever happened to me, you chose me out of pretty much any guy in the world. And of course I love you, it's been two years Jacks. Why would I stick around if I didn't love you?"

"You're a guy who was getting laid regularly." Jackie replied monosyllabically. "I mean that's why Kelso kept me around right? What else am I good for?"

"You're pretty good under an engine." He joked lightly. "And you paid for Donna's engagement ring and you got me to meet my Dad and now I own a record store. You did all that."

"You wanted to kill me for butting in with you and WB." She pointed out rolling away from him. "And I only butt in when it concerns the happiness of the people I love." She accentuated her point by stabbing him in the chest.

He winced as her nail scratched the bandage on his chest. Her eyes widened and she tore at his shirt.

"What happened? Michael didn't shoot you did he?" Jackie asked frantically rubbing her fingers over the bandage and staring at him worriedly.

"No this is self-inflected." Hyde replied moving her hands away so he could peel the bandage away from his skin.

"YOU GOT A TATTOO?" She screeched reaching for her flashlight the beam such a stark contrast to the dark his eyes actually hurt. Hyde blinked until his eyes stopped swirling and grabbed hold of the damn thing pushing it away from his eyes.

"Damn Jackie are you trying to make me blind?"

"Shut up Steven what the hell have you done to your chest?" Jackie demanded.

"If you quit moving the damn light in my eyes I'll show you!" He growled finally wrestling it away from Jackie. "Look when I was in the warehouse I had this nightmare, the beer must have been bad or something. I was married to a stripper, Donna was dating some weird dude obsessed with his hair, Kelso was in Chicago and you were dating Fez."

"Ew!" Jackie yelled wrinkling her nose.

"I saw Fez passed out next to Kelso and I wanted to kill him for touching you." Hyde explained. "I tried to find you straight away but then I remembered the ultimatum."

"If you're here to dump me just leave Steven!"

"If I was going to dump you why would I tattoo your name on my chest?" Hyde countered shining the light onto his chest where Jackie was written in cursive.

"Oh Steven that is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me!" Jackie squealed peppering his face with kisses. "And it's not just on your chest, it's across your heart!"

"It's not a ring but I'm pretty sure it's as about as permanent as you can get." He told her gruffly reluctantly pulling away from her lips. "So does that answer your damn question?"

"I'll tell them I got a better offer tomorrow." Jackie promised leaning down to kiss his tattoo, he shivered partially from her lips and partially because the thing still itched and stung like hell.

"Babe not that I don't enjoy that, but it's barely an hour old and it still raw." Hyde rasped, really stung.

"Hmm, seems like I may have to play nurse, what do you say doctor?" She kinked her eyebrow at her boyfriend, he was hers, it said so on his heart. She wondered if while he was asleep she could add 'property of' above the Jackie.

"You always know the answer to that doll."

"Well then I think it's time for your sponge bath Mr. Hyde." She placed her hand son her hips and pointed to her bathroom. "Now strip."

Definitely a good decision, there was no stripper wife and there certainly was no pervy foreigner with his hands all over Hyde's girl. He liked this much better, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to be kicking both Fez and Kelso's asses later.

_ZENNIES / PUDDIN' POPS / DOLLS_

"Wow so **you** are alive!" Eric exclaimed as Hyde walked into the basement.

"Calm down Erica if you panties bunch any higher they'll be in your ovaries." He grumbled taking a seat on his chair and scratching at his chest. Jackie had been careful about applying that stupid ointment everyday but it was still a little itchy.

"Dude no one's seen either you or Jackie for days. We figured either you told her no and she killed you or well no actually we just figured she'd killed you since there's no one you'd actually say yes." Eric dismissed.

"Oh Hyde my friend. I thought you were gone forever!" Fez shrieked clutching him tightly.

"Get off me!" He growled punching the foreigner hard in the arm. "It was a couple days calm down."

"So are you just going to leave us hanging or are we finally rid of the devil?" Eric asked eagerly crossing his fingers and waving them emphatically in front of Hyde.

"Oh lollipop head you'll never be rid of me, I'm Red's favourite." Jackie called from the doorway sauntering in and tossing her coat over the deep freeze. It was still cold out but she was wearing her lowest jeans and a peasant top that finished above her belly button.

"Oh yay you're here." Eric cheered tonelessly. Donna slapped him across the head and groaned at her choice in men.

"Jackie where have you been? I went by your house but no one answered and your phones been disconnected."

"Oh I was busy." Jackie answered nonchalantly still not moving to sit down.

"I thought you'd left for Chicago without saying goodbye." Donna all but scolded her, sounding eerily like Kitty.

"Yeah, I turned them down." She told her shrugging her shoulders. "Turns out there was a better offer in town."

"What could be better than your own show in Chicago?" Donna asked suspiciously.

"My family." Jackie replied with a smile, it was totally cheesy but considering Donna's father was also the King of Tacky she knew it would work on her friend. "Besides if I'm in Chicago who's going to teach you to dress better and help you when Eric does the next stupid thing he does."

"Hey!"

"You are quote stupid, you seem to want to take Kelso's crown away from him." Fez agreed reaching for the helmet and cradling it protectively.

"Fez man what are you doing with my helmet?" The pretty boy demanded snatching it away. "Ha! Told you they were together you owe me ten bucks Forman!"

"They're not together. I don't see a ring on Satan's claw." Eric argued desperately. "Right?"

"I don't need a ring." Jackie told him enjoying the look of panic on his face. "Not yet anyway."

"Not for a long time." Hyde corrected pulling her onto his lap, his hand brushed her hip and she winced. "What's wrong?"

"You were right, these things do itch." She complained pulled at the jeans to reveal the white bandage on her hip. Hyde traced the bandage carefully pulling out the corner so he could peek at the ink that now marred her skin. "Now we match."

"That is so badass." He murmured into her neck, she responded by kissing him slowly making sure to pull away just when he seemed to get into it the most.

"Get your stuff together baby, when we get back I think it's my turn for a sponge bath." She smiled saucily at him blowing a kiss. Hyde smirked back at her and moved her into his seat while he went to the back room and threw his clothes in a bag, he could come back for his records later.

"Let's go doll." Hyde led her towards the door, Kelso and Fez looking after Jackie longingly while Donna comforted her shocked boyfriend. "I'm moving in with Jackie, don't bother us for a few days."

"Don't call us, we'll call you!" Jackie waved. Steven threw his stuff in the flatbed while Jackie hopped into the El Camino scooting over to snuggle into him while he drove.

"I can't believe you got a tattoo." Hyde shook his head, one hand dipping down to touch the bandage once more.

"It's only fair." She shrugged. "I like having your name on me, it's hot when you act like you own me."

"Don't let Donna hear you say that."

"She has, but she doesn't get it. Who'd want to be owned by Eric?" She shuddered. "Drive faster, we still have three rooms left to christen."

"As you wish." He replied drily, his foot pressing down harder on the gas. Her name was permanently inked across his chest, okay alright, his heart. He just made official, the damn pixie had stamped her name there long ago. He knew eventually Eric would get over the shock, he heard there might be a new Star Wars movie so all of his energy would probably go into that. But right now he had more pressing concerns, his girl needed a sponge bath.

ZENNIES / PUDDIN' POPS / DOLLS

**Yet more drabble from me, stupid nonsense drabble but fun! Hope you enjoyed, I have a big one coming up based on Hyde's drunk ass when Fez lost Kitty's ring, it's going to be epic almost as epic as my twist on Jackie has a baby, all coming soon because I have no life!**


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